1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



159 



of Ohio, then anew country, during which time 



I saw more of the evidences of meagre fare, 



more barefoot women, and ragged children, than 



I had before noticed in my whole life. But 1 



must confess that in all new settlements, there is 



a noble undercurrent of enthusiasm, a romance 



of labor, that turns toil to play, and privation to 



pleasure — animating the present while it gilds j ^^^^ _ P'^^^^ 



the future : a stimulus to action which the en7iu- ^^"^'^ 



Fences. 



NUMBER TWO. 



The most economical, pei'manent, and withal, 



respectable looking pest and board fence, for 



general farm purposes, is constructed thus : Let 



large, not less than eight inches 



and if ten the better. As its durability 



yee cannot envy, because he has not seen or en- 

 joyed it. How often I have heard a farmer aver, 

 in all sincerity, that he never "realized so much 

 comfort in his life, as when he lived in his log- ^. , . , , 



house, with a puncheon roof, stick chimney and i ^'"^^7 '" <j^«^ ^^'^^^ ^^^^, '' >'°," f.^^ §')'< . 



floor of split logs; then, said he, our wants were jf^^"! °[ °/ i/ '. c 1 '""" ' ?K ""' 

 - -° - - • rpi : leached ashes, It will wonderfully improve their 



entirely depends on the life of the posts, let them 

 be of the most lasting timber within your reach — 

 remembering that the butt cuts are worth double 

 to those taken high up in the tree. .Set them 

 and if you can give them 



few and simple, now they are legion 

 pride had not invaded our neighborhood 

 worked and saved, and were animated by the 



• J u J ♦ ■ 1 J • uu u J 11 durability — as will also charring a few inches 



pride had not invaded our neighborhood — we all '^^'^'^'^^'■y "^ r^u -i i? 



^ ° -■ - - above and below the surface of the soil, rour 



and a quarter or four and a half feet is a sufficient 

 oiilv'th'e h^'g'''^ ^s animals seldom attempt aboard or pick- 

 i^l.^„„ let fence of any heiorht. The boards should be 



good in prospect ,• now that we have more than 



attained that fancied good, the good is 



farther from us, because our wants have increas 



ed faster than our means of indulging them. It I ''«'m"^i- "'" h;'/« . -- - -' J'"- TVTV""'!^ 



would seem now, that pride has comi among us ^^f ^hem be 16i feet long, or one rod ; that length 



only to make us the slave of fashion, at the ex- ^"«^^'"g }^^, P^^^s often enough to support the 



pense of all our homespun comforts, and domes- 



i et fence of any heigh 

 hemlock or pine ; and if of your own procuring 



tic peace. 



If I mistake not. 



the first settlers of Michigan 



fence, and what is convenient, counting the lengths 

 gives the contents of acres in the field. Four 

 boards should constitute the fence, of 12, 10, 8, 

 or 6 inches in width, placed (beginning at the 



commenced their struggle m the wilderness with bottom) at 4, 6, or 7 inches apart, 'the last one to 

 more capital than is usual with new settlers gen- ; ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ top of the post, which is to be sawed 

 erally, and that their outward civil'zation has in-l^g- ^bout 1 inch slanting, to receive the cap and 

 creased in direct ratio with their means of mdulg- 1 ^ ^^Y the water. In putting on the boards, 



mg it, until the struggle between pride and pov- ^^^^ ^j.^^^ ^^ ^jtj^ ^„e oj. j^y^ eight-penny nails 

 any there is now sufficiently developed to entitle I ^^^ ^^^^ ^he joints and at each post place a six 

 Michigan to be ranked among the more advanced j j^^^j^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^ thoroughly nail into each board 

 states of the west. Perhaps no other state ever | ^^-^y^ twelve-penny nails. The caps should break 



made a more rapid transition from the log-house I 

 simplicity to the age of brick and mortar, and 

 paint, and upholstery, and floriculture, &c., &c., 

 than this same peninsular Michigan. But all 

 these fixed facts only go to prove the romance of 

 labor ; for what man in his senses would ever 

 undertake, with money, to clear up, fence, and 

 put good buildings on a quarter section of wild 

 land, with any hope of ever realizing the amount 

 of his outlay in dollars and cents '? 'Tis true 

 that hundreds of industrious families have created 

 to themselves a fine estate by such an operation ; 

 but it is done at the expense of great economy, 

 self denial, unceasing toil, and a privation that 

 could hardly be borne, save under the influence 

 of that exciting novelty and enthusiasm, which 

 is the romance of labor. 



Oh that this magic influence could be invoked, 

 in order that the labor which is now so rarely 

 bestowed on the smooth old all alluvial fields of 

 Seneca, may be cheated of its drudgery, so that 

 our farmers sons may be induced to think and to 

 feel, that with a titb.e of the labor and with the 

 same economy and self denial required to make 

 a new farm available, will make them rich on an 

 old one. 3. W. 



Seneca county, N. Y., 1847. 



joints with the boards and slope so as to carry 

 the water from the front. 



Such a fence will out last a dozen Presidential 

 campaigns, and is comparatively a very cheap 

 structure. There is in each rod of this fence 60 

 feet of boards, which, at $.5 for hemlock, and in 

 proportion higher for pine, costs 30 cents. The 

 posts 6 cents each, is 12 cts.; and 2 lbs. of nails 

 12 cts. more ; in all 54 cts., and 25 cts. for putting 

 up — say 80 cts. per rod — which is defying time 

 and unruly animals at a very modemte rate. 



I have not done making fence yet. I will in 

 my next surround your small premises, Mr. Ed- 

 itor, with an oddity which I like very well, so 

 that if I dont get a hint from you to stop fencing 

 and attend to my own afTairs. I shall go on, like 

 the old minister of whom his congregation grum- 

 bled that he preached too long sermons. He at 

 last agreed to take a short text, which was " Nev- 

 ertheless,^'' and after applying it about a half an 

 hour longer than usual, said, " Now, my breth- 

 ren, I suppose you are all grumbling that your 



dinners are getting cold, hut nevertheless 1 



shall go on to the last but two heads of my dis- 

 course." It was equal to the balsam of wild 

 cherry — it cured them of grumbling. 



Old Farmer Tim. 



